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Autonomous Integrated Microfluidic Circuits for Chip‐Level Flow Control Utilizing Chemofluidic Transistors
Author(s) -
Frank Philipp,
Gräfe David,
Probst Christopher,
Haefner Sebastian,
Elstner Martin,
Appelhans Dietmar,
Kohlheyer Dietrich,
Voit Brigitte,
Richter Andreas
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201700430
Subject(s) - microfluidics , transistor , electronic circuit , chip , flow control (data) , nanotechnology , computer science , integrated circuit , process (computing) , materials science , electronic engineering , electrical engineering , optoelectronics , engineering , voltage , telecommunications , operating system
In microfluidics, a variety of platforms have emerged facilitating various physical effects for manipulating small volumes. Despite great functional diversity, most technologies are incapable of acting on direct feedback from the process liquid and instead require a sophisticated external control unit off‐chip. Here, a microfluidic platform concept is demonstrated utilizing the volume phase transition of polymers via transistor‐like components to actively switch between discrete fluid streams. Control is integrated at chip level for the first time, relying on information carried within the process liquid. Control commands are chemical signals such as solvent concentration, pH‐value, or even salt. The developed logical modules can be interconnected independently through conclusive signal propagation, supporting an integrated circuit concept and large‐scale integration. The approach enables the development of the basic logic gates (AND, OR, NOT) and their negated counterparts, as well as more sophisticated circuits such as an RS flip‐flop and a chemofluidic oscillator.